Tag Archives: Pittsburgh Pirates

With the season dwindling away, there are fewer and fewer things worth watching. R.A. Dickey is one of them.

Dickey (10-6, 2.91 ERA) with career highs in wins and ERA after being thrust in a stop-gap role this season has been one of the bright spots in this gray summer. When he starts tonight against the Pittsburgh Pirates, he’ll also be continuing his audition for the 2011 rotation.

Dickey, 35, is 6-1 with a 1.85 ERA in eight starts at Citi Field.

“I’ve just really tried to be consistent,” Dickey said. “The better I bounce back after tough outings, the more I show that I can be trustworthy.”

…. In 1991, in one of their better decisions, the Mets signed Bobby Bonilla to a five-year, $29 million contract. At the time, Bonilla, a local athlete, was coming off a productive run with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Bonilla became a lightning rod in the clubhouse, some thought a clubhouse cancer. Threatening reporters didn’t help his image. I was in Baltimore when he brought his reputation to the Orioles, and sure enough, he didn’t report. He and Davey Johnson had an especially combative relationship caused by the DH rule.

Bonilla, who couldn’t field, didn’t like the DH and rebelled at being used in that slot. I didn’t have a chummy relationship with Bonilla, who was adverse to answering most questions, even simple ones, like, “how are you?”

One time, that question was answered with the, “why don’t you ask the “!@#$%%^” manager?”